Morality Continues to Bite
by Pagan-Phoenix
Summary: AU: Set in the alternate universe of Morality Bites from Season 2. UPDATED: Phoebe is alive. Something is wrong with Prue. And the Seer is plotting against the Source. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

_Contrary to what the government wants everyone to believe, we are not the enemy. Whatever happened, is happening, and probably will happen is not our fault. We are not the evil ones here, no matter what the news wrongfully paints us to be, no matter how the world unfairly perceives us, we are the ones wronged here. _

_But it won't be long before we have our chance. Not to prove ourselves or claim our innocence; the time for that has long passed. But not the chance for vengeance. That, that gift will soon be ours. He will pay, and he will pay dearly._

_The demons are here because of him, because of his fear, his cowardice, his ignorance. He is right to fear us. This time, we take the fight to him._

"Piper," my older sister, Prue, called, momentarily snapping me out of my reverie. I looked down at the entry I was writing and found my hand shaking. The page I was writing in the Book of Shadows was almost full, the uneven handwriting a clear reflection of my dark mood. "It's time." She looked at me grimly, her long blonde hair framing her determined face. She picked up two capped syringes and handed one to me.

Taking the syringe, I closed the Book of Shadows and carried it back to Prue's safe, its official hiding place since the mansion had been destroyed and ransacked by his men. No longer safe in our own house, and using Prue's office in Buckland as our magical storage facility, this is our life now. I shook syringe and watched as the color of the liquid inside turned from a pale lemon yellow to a deep amber shade. And using masking potions to ensure that our identities as witches remain hidden. With a sigh, I uncapped the potion needle and, without batting an eyelash, stabbed the exposed vein on my left arm, pushing the potion in. "Then let's get to work."

I felt Prue's eyes watching me, studying me as she injects herself with the potion.

…

_I feel the potion run through my veins like liquid fire, making my left arm spasm. With an effort, I shake the burning feeling off, taking very special care not to accidentally set off my telekinetic power. I watch Piper as she injects herself with the potion; I begin to worry again because she doesn't even so much as flinch as the potion enters her body. She's become tougher, harder, ever since the incident, but then so have I. We all have._

Calling my secretary as I punched in the security code on my wall safe, I cancelled all my appointments for the day and grabbed my car keys. "Hey, Piper, are you okay?"

"Of course, Prue. When have I not been okay?" Piper replied coolly as she put on her black leather jacket; it was one of the jackets we found in the closet Ms. Hellfire, the hitwoman Barbas hired to assassinate us ten years ago.

"Never mind," Definitely harder, but who am I to judge? I brushed my worries aside and focused on the main job at hand; we can't afford to be distracted, not anymore. "According to the scrying crystal, our target is in the northwest perimeter of the cemetery. Do you have the crystals?"

"Right here," she patted the left breast pocket of her jacket, and gave me the thumbs up. "Charged and spelled, and ready to go."

"Potions?"

"Check."

"Wigs and disguises?"

"Check."

"All right, then let's go." We rode the elevator down to the car park in silence, mapping out our strategy in our heads- we were out to set a Lazarus demon free.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N Dominus Trinus- Thank you so much for the kind words; the review really perked me up =D I too loved the Morality Bites alternate universe and was kind of hoping that the writers would delve into it some more. The comic book was great at tying up loose ends, but what if there was more? =D here's hoping you like the next chapter. Cheers!_

**Chapter 1**

"Halt!" A loud voice made me stop. Male, angry; a voice that was used to barking orders. Great, just great. "Who goes there?"

"Hello? Is anybody there?" I said, holding a bouquet of flowers and making my way carefully into the wrought iron gates of the cemetery. Piper was standing beside me, holding a basket of fruits, wearing a blonde wig to match my own.

"Step away. No one is allowed here," the male voice replied sternly. A bearlike man in a navy blue security uniform suddenly stepped in front of me and Piper, towering over us and blocking our path.

Balancing the flowers on her my left hand, I coyly tucked my blonde hair behind my ears and looked up at the guard. "But, sir, these are for our Grams, it's her 5th year death anniversary." I felt Piper rolling her eyes beside me.

The man remained unmoving and never took his eyes off us.

I noticed the gun on the guard's hips and the black baton stick attached to a separate holster on his shoulder. "Please?" I tried to get the impatience out of my voice. I so did not want to risk getting shot or hit by a large wooden stick.

The guard continued to glower at us, until another bearlike man, this one wearing a black uniform with a silver badge on his left breast pocket, came from behind him. _What now? _"Sentry! What's going on there?"

_Oh what now?_ She thought, and risked a glance at Piper, who was slowly raising her hand.

"Two females, mid to late 20s, Captain Tate!" The first guard answered, "Trying to gain entry into the premises, sir."

"Check them," the captain barked, "we can't risk having witches running loose around here." He spat the word "witches" at us and fixed his eyes on us as well, like we were the most disgusting creatures he'd ever seen.

The guard in the navy blue uniform removed a silver hand-held device from his pocket, and aimed it at me, emitting a green laser that traced its way from my eyes to my feet, then at Piper. "Negative reading, sir, both females are clean."

"We're sorry, ladies," the captain said, voice condescending and sarcastic. "But these days, what with the witches running loose, we can't be too careful."

_Yeah I bet you are._

"No harm done, officer," I replied sweetly, forcing a smile and batting my eyelashes at the captain. "We all know how dangerous those witches are."

"And how powerful," Piper added, staring at the captain in the eye. From the corners of my eye, I saw her hands twitching, and immediately knew that she was resisting the urge to freeze the two guards on the spot permanently.

…

"Okay," I said, tying my long brown hair back in a ponytail, "we can cross the ashes of a Lazarus demon off our list." Running my black marker heavily across our list, I felt Prue's eyes watching me again. I was right. I fixed my eyes on her, returning her stare, "What?"

"Since when can you blow things up?" Prue asked without hesitation. Leave it to Prue to be direct and straight to the point.

"A couple of days," I muttered, going back to the list, unable to stand, and match, the intensity of Prue's gaze, knowing full well that she can catch the lie in my voice. "All right, fine. I've had this new power for a little over a month," I confessed, and before she had the chance to play the shocked sister card, I pressed on. "I wanted to make sure that I had this new power under control first before I told you. There. Okay?"

"No, not okay," Prue began. _Here we go again_. "And don't roll your eyes at me, Piper. First of all, you weren't even supposed to use your powers in public." She put her index finger up as if to emphasize her main point.

I started to open my mouth, but Prue cut me off with a second finger. "Second of all, you should have told me about this new power as soon as it manifested, especially since this new power almost got me killed, not to mention almost blew our cover and exposed us!"

"For goodness' sakes, let's not overreact here, Prue." This time, I did roll my eyes at her. "Okay first of all," I raised my own index finger, mimicking her, "this new power was the one that did the job and vanquished the Lazarus demon. We have its ashes, thanks to me." I raised my second finger, "And, second, don't forget that this new power was the one that saved your life."

"And you call almost being blown up and almost being buried by a stone angel saving?"

"And how do you propose I should have saved you when that Lazarus demon attacked? Freeze you? It was about to fry you with a fireball, Prue, I had to do something."

"I could've telekinetically deflected that fireball, Piper," Prue countered.

"Yes, you could have. But you wouldn't, Prue. You're too damn scared to use your powers and risk exposure," I made small air quotes to emphasize my point. I felt my cheeks and ears flush red with anger. "You're too busy hiding your powers to actually use them and save your own ass."

"I don't think I need to remind you that it's by not using my powers that's what's been keeping us alive, Piper."

"No, Prue. You and I both know the truth; it's what got Phoebe killed."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Wya and Dominus Trinus! Thank you so, so much for the kind review =) This really means a lot to me. And yes seeing the story as a television episode rocks more. I hope you'll enjoy Chapter 2, it's a little transition for the next chapters =) Blessed Be =)_

**Chapter 2**

_First the attitude, and now her powers? What the hell is happening to Piper? Hunting the Lazarus demon today was supposed to be an easy job, routine almost, but there was a bloodlust in Piper today that almost jeopardized our mission. There was a glint in her eyes, crazed, that scared me. She wanted to destroy the demon with her hands, she wanted to rip it apart._

_And now this?_

"You're blaming me for what happened to Phoebe?" I screamed, not bothering to keep the shock from my voice. That's two bombs that she'd dropped in as many minutes.

"We had the chance to save her, Prue! We were this close to saving her, to freeing her from those chains and the pyre, all you had to do was free her with your powers!" The glass panels of the bookshelf near my desk exploded, and shards of glass rain down on my office's carpeted floor.

"And do what? Have Nathaniel Pratt's men catch us too and burn us with Phoebe?" A two-hundred year old porcelain urn sitting on my desk suddenly flew against the wall, shattering into tiny irreparable pieces. "I had to do what I did to save us, Piper."

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, Prue."

All the chairs in my office hurled themselves into the walls, and my table jerked forward, causing meticulously filed documents to scatter everywhere. "Contrary to what you believe, Piper, I loved Phoebe. You want to blame me for what happened to her? Fine, that's your call. But what you're doing? This anger, this rage? Don't let it be the one that gets us both killed, Piper."

I took a deep breath, and let it run through my body, my nerves, before letting it out. I looked around the office and shook my head at the damage that Piper and I just did. _Great, sibling rivalry, Charmed style. Thank goodness for sound-proofing._

Piper simply shook her head. "You and I both know the truth, Prue. You love her? For God's sakes, you dyed your hair blonde as soon as she was convicted, so that people wouldn't immediately find out that you're related."

That caught me off-guard. A painting telekinetically flung itself.

"I'm outta here." Piper picked up her list and began to storm out.

"Where are you going?"

"Out; hunting. We still have one more item on the list."

…

"Sir, this is Officer Tate from Sector 23-Charlie, District 5, reporting an incident, sir," A male voice suddenly came on Nathaniel Pratt's computer screen, followed by an image of an officer wearing a black uniform and a silver badge.

The officer, Officer Tate, was visibly sweating, Pratt noted, and his lips were quivering as he introduced himself. "Report status, Tate," Pratt ordered.

"We've been attacked, sir!" Tate was shaking, and Pratt saw that his left arm was bleeding. On the computer screen, Pratt saw that the ground behind the pale officer was covered in rubble. A battle had obviously taken place.

"Demons?" Pratt asked harshly.

"No, sir," Tate whispered, both in shame and fear. "Witches."

"What?" Anger and hatred suddenly filled Pratt's eyes, making the whites of his eyes larger. "How could those damn abominations gotten through you?" _Imbeciles! I have incompetent mbeciles working for me! Damn those witches!_

"We… we followed protocol, sir," Tate offered, his voice was getting raspier and his breathing heavier. "They both… both came out negative. As soon as… as they entered, all hell broke loose."

"Idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!" Pratt screamed at the computer screen. "You and your idiot guards are useless! What were they after? Did they get anything?"

"They infiltrated Locked Area 666, sir," Tate was looking very wan, and Pratt noticed that the bleeding on his left arm had gotten worse.

"Smith, Check what was inside Locked Area 666," Pratt spat at his assistant. "Now!"

His assistant, Laura Smith, a lanky woman with sandy brown hair nodded nervously. "Right away, sir, yes sir." Pushing her glasses back in place, she rapidly hit keys on her laptop and began locating entries labeled "Locked Area" and keyed in 666. Within seconds, she found out what was inside. "Sir, Locked Area 666 contained one Lazarus demon in stasis, vanquished and suspended in a blessed box back in 2002, sir."

"WHAT?" Pratt roared, and returned his hateful gaze at the large computer communication screen. "You have failed miserably, officer. And you know how much failure displeases me." As if flipping a switch, his mood abruptly went from fiery anger to cool calm.

"Sir, please, I have…have a wife and…and kids," Officer Tate looked terrified, his eyes growing wide in fear. "Plea…"

More than witches, Nathaniel Pratt hated failure. He looked at the face of the pleading officer through the communications screen, and shaking his head, pushed a button on the computer and detonated the micro-bomb implanted in the officer's silver badge.

The communications screen went black.

…

_I felt so tired, very tired._ I sank into one of the telekinetically displaced chairs and closed my eyes. The day's events, coupled with days of planning and the fight I had with Piper finally took its toll. I felt sleep pulling at me; this time, I didn't fight it, even though I was afraid of what awaited me whenever I slept.

"_Prue," a voice called out to me, pleading, and vaguely familiar. "Prue?" Darkness blanketed me, I was floating endlessly in a tunnel of darkness. The voice was coming at me from all sides. _

Please. No more, I began to plead, knowing full well who was calling me. And what was waiting for me.

"_Please, Prue," the voice grew stronger, louder, more urgent. "Prue, don't leave me," it called over and over again. _

No, please, stop it. Tears began to run down my face. "Please, stop it." I pleaded to the darkness.

Without warning, flames exploded around me, blinding me with their brightness. My breath caught in my throat as the heat attacked me with ferocity, heating the air and burning the oxygen around me.

A throaty laughter echoed through the glow of the flames, male and evil. As the laughter grew louder, so did the flames grow stronger.

"_Prue, help me, please!" The voice grew shrill, wailing in desperation."The flames! Please, oh God, I'm burning!"_

"Phoebe!"

I snapped awake and felt tears roll down my cheeks, the smell of burnt flesh thick and almost palpable.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Dominus Trinus, Yay for long chapters! And I'm so glad you liked this and the review is very much appreciated =D and I wasn't sold too on why Prue had to be blonde, so I thought, maybe there was a reason for that. And everything you said in the review hit the nail square on the head. Here's Chapter 3 for you =D _

**Chapter 3**

Waving leafy branches and thorny bushes away from my face, I trudged through the forest and made my way to the clearing where we fought the Demon of Anarchy with the moon as my light and guide. As I entered the clearing, I looked around to make sure that I was truly alone. _Perfect._

Grim determination aside, I was honestly dreading what I had to do. Despite the night chill, I felt sweat running down my forehead; my hands were sweaty, and I felt my pulse jumping in my throat.

_I can do this_, I tried coaxing myself. Taking a deep breath, I swallowed my nerves and proceeded to do what I came here for - summoning my ex-husband.

"Leo," I called out into the darkness, and held my breath. _Being divorced with a daughter and opposite moral views do not exactly spell "couple of the year" but I needed to try. I had to do this. For Phoebe._

Silence. No orbs, no shimmer. Nothing. I didn't know whether to be relieved or angry that he was ignoring my calls. Naturally, I chose anger.

"Leo," I tried once more. "I know we have our differences, but we need your help. I really need your help." I gritted my teeth. "Please." I exhaled the breath I didn't realize I was holding when a shower of white orbs suddenly appeared before me, materializing into a reluctant and somber-faced Leo.

"Piper."

"Leo."

So it's now come to this, a tense meeting filled with curt one-word nods. Eight fine years of marriage down the drain. It had been two years since our divorce, one of life's wake-up calls, and this was the best that we could do.

I hadn't seen Leo for months, since the incident. It had been my choice to cut him off from my life, but why was it suddenly so damned difficult for me to talk to him?

I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off. "If this is about Melinda, you know that you still can't see her, not like this. She's safer with me in Magic School than with you, here," he gestured, the lines of his mouth firm, his body rigid. "You're still forbidden to talk to our daughter."

"What?" I flared instantly, not expecting this. Despite our differences, and maybe because of them, I expected Leo to be evasive, defensive, apathetic even. I expected him to be angry and unhelpful. But to bring my daughter, our Melinda, into this conversation? "Don't you dare bring Melinda into this, Leo!" I was seething; I felt my heartbeat quicken. Without warning, a towering tree to my left burst into flames and exploded.

"Me?" Leo had the gall to look shocked. "You already brought her into this, Piper, when you ignored the dangers of being a witch in these times; when you didn't protect our daughter from magic. I was not the one who went on a rampage, deliberately ignoring the dangers and risks, and putting Melinda in danger of getting caught by Nathaniel and his men. And I'm not the one recklessly using magic, knowing full well that the hype of witch hunting has risen to extremely dangerous heights!" His voice was getting louder, and I felt my pulse quicken more. " Another tree exploded in the distance.

"And blowing trees up, risking the lives of wood nymphs living in this forest." Leo shook his head. "That's not even one of your powers, Piper. Blowing things up is not even a power of and from the Warren line."

I took three deep breaths, and tried to control my emotions; if I didn't, the entire forest might end up in flames. The things he said all made sense, they were all true; and they cut through me like a hot, searing knife. "Look, Leo, I know I'm not the world's best wife and mother, Leo, but damn it, I tried. I tried my best to look out for our daughter, and our marriage, but not with the world like this, not when we're living in this hell."

I paused, not knowing what to say next. "Not when men like Pratt goes walking freely and good witches, no, good people like Phoebe gets executed. All of this? This reckless rampage? I'm doing this for our daughter, don't you see that? All of this, so that she won't grow up in a place and time where her being born a witch is an automatic death sentence."

Leo stood very still, and looked at me, studying me carefully, the way Prue had this morning. His eyes softened, and his jaw relaxed. "Okay." He, too, took a deep breath. "Okay. I… I was just thinking about our daughter's safety."

"That's okay," I said, softly, knowing that that was as close to an apology that I was going to get. I was how to say what I had to say next. "That's why I called you. I need your help."

"What do you need?"

I had to be careful, but there was no other way to say what I had to, so I just plunged right in. "I need orbs, Leo, whitelighter orbs."

The momentary truce that Leo and I had was instantly squashed. He immediately took a step back, eyes widening in panic as the realization of what I was asking for, and its consequences, dawned on him. "No," he said forcefully, "No, Piper, you can't do this. Think of the repercussions, think of the rules!"

Damn it! Here we were, in a middle of a crisis, and he was doing it again. He knew how important this was to me, to our mission, but his damned moral values were more important to him; his self-righteous, self-serving morals. I felt my temperature rising again.

"Look, Leo, I know full well what the dam repercussions are, and what rules I'm about to break, but this is important to me, to us. This might help us restore order to what Pratt has done! Don't you see that?"

"Restore order? Are you even listening to what you're saying? What you're planning to do won't restore order, it will reinstate more chaos! Think about it!"

I knew it, he wasn't going to listen, at all. His damned morals were getting in the way again. I had hoped, with all my heart, that he would listen. But now, I had no choice; I let out a breath in resignation, feeling my heart sink at what I was about to do. I slowly reached into my back pocket, making the gesture seem as casual as possible, and palmed the potion vial inside. "Leo, I hope in time you'll forgive me."

"Piper, wha…?"

I smashed the potion vial at his feet and quickly recited a spell, one that I hoped I never had to cast.

"With my magic, I nnow cast this spell,

To take over his will, his actions I compel.

His ability to think and act I now erase,

Bind him now, in this once battle space."

Leo's entire body became rigid, not a single hair was moving even with the strong breeze that rustled the night. And although he was not able to think or move, he was still able to feel, and I saw his eyes burning with a wild mixture of fear and anger.

_I'm so sorry, Leo_. Tears began to run down my face, but I did not give in. I couldn't; not yet. The smallest distraction might free him from my spell. I reached into my jacket and produced another vial, one made from black obsidian and had the power to contain magical essences.

"I have no choice," I whispered, hoping and praying that he heard me through the binding spell. Steeling myself, I gestured with my hands, channeling my ability to cause things to explode into Leo, dispelling my magical hold on him and causing him to explode into a million tiny orbs. I gathered as many orbs as I could, and ran madly back into the woods before Leo fully reconstituted, ignoring the pain as the branches hit my face as I ran.

Whatever chances of us fixing our marriage were now destroyed the moment I blew him up. The irony did not escape me as thorny branches scratched my face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

"Sir," Laura Smith said shyly, knocking on the open door of her boss. "All data from Officer Tate's scanning system is now being uploaded into our main database." She waited, watching her employer, Nathaniel Pratt, whose back was turned to her and was studying a chart that ran the entire length of one wall. Laura saw that the chart contained tens, if not hundreds of pictures on the chart, some of which were marked with red X's and black O's.

"Good," Pratt said, appraising his chart. "And specimen from the scene?"

"On its way here now, sir," Laura answered meekly, her shoulders hunched, hands fidgeting with the cotton bow fastened around her neck.

"Very good," Pratt said, as if praising a toddler for successfully taking its very first step. "Good girl, my sweet, reliable Laura."

At this, Laura said nothing, keeping her head bowed and eyes staring at her nondescript white heels.

"Be a dear and alert the Lab for me, Laura, it's time to bring the fight to these witches."

Laura turned around, and upon looking up, recognized the biggest picture on the chart. She bit her lips, "I'm so sorry, Phoebe."

…

Blood and tears were running down my scratched face as I made my way out of the clearing. I ran to my car, shakily pressing the button to unlock its door. Hearing the familiar alarm signaling that it was unlocked, I slid inside, securing the black obsidian vial in the enchanted case I had brought, and jammed the key in the ignition. As soon as I heard the engine start, I forced myself to stop crying. I could not afford to break down. Not now, not when we were so close.

Seeing Leo brought back so many memories. And I felt myself sinking into those memories as I drove out of the clearing and back to Buckland's.

…

It all started with a phone call from Daryl. The memory played in my mind as I turned the corner, taking the road that brought me to the highway. "Turn the television on," I remembered answering the phone just after coming home from an early morning vanquish with Prue and Phoebe. It had been Daryl, voice tense. "Don't ask, just do it." I gestured for my sisters to follow me, grabbing the remote control and switched the television on. Daryl hung up.

"… believe that this was an occult-related murder," a news anchor was in the middle of her report , her green eyes staring directly into the camera. Behind her, police officers were trying to cover the crime scene with yellow POLICE CRIME SCENE tape, but I caught a glimpse of a red pentagram painted haphazardly on one of the walls of the crime scene.

At that moment, Leo orbed in, worry lining his face. "News has broken out about suspected killings caused by magic and the occult," Leo said, reporting what he had just heard. "Magic has been exposed, and they're blaming witches for murder." He was still our Whitelighter then, and I remembered clearly how very protective he was of us, of me. The memory seemed to stop, frozen at his face and how worried he was for me. I tried to coax my memory to keep playing, to keep recalling the events of that day, but all I saw in my mind was his face. I choked back a sob and continued to drive in silence, knowing that I could no longer see that face again.

…

Wearily, I walked to my wall safe and grabbed the Book of Shadows from its hiding place. _Phoebe._ Opening our magical tome, I began flipping through it absent-mindedly, thoughts sandwiched between my youngest sister and the spells that Piper and I had written and planned on using to save Phoebe.

I scanned each yellowed page, running my eyes over the elaborate calligraphy each spell was written in, _Spells to open doors, bind someone against their will, potions that stun and induce hallucinations_. Powerful magics, surely, and yet, _With all the powerful magic here, I failed to save Phoebe. I failed my sister._

_Oh, Phoebes_, shaking my head, I felt a warm teardrop run down my face, falling on the yellowed page I was reading. Deep down, if I really admitted it, I knew that it wasn't the magic. C_learly, we weren't lacking in that department_, I muttered as I regarded the pages of powerfully worded spells and intricately brewed potions inside the Book of Shadows.

Ever since the day of Phoebe's execution, I had been dealing with loss, pain, but more than that, I was consumed by guilt. Raw and antagonizing guilt. I knew exactly why I failed to save Phoebe; why I deliberately chose not to save her.

Piper was right, I was the reason Phoebe's gone.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Hi Dominus! The last part was Prue thinking out loud, admitting, finally, to herself, that she was the reason Phoebe died. Why would she blame herself for Phoebe's death? Was she the real reason?**_

**Chapter 5**

The loud blare of the television in front of him kept screaming, filling the white walls of his room with dancing light and the same message over and over again- "The time has come to cleanse the world of evil. Witches must be burned!" _Witches?_ He thought insipidly. He cocked his head to one side, trying to make sense of what the television is saying. _Witches?_ He felt a headache starting to form, and reached for the dial to switch the television off to silence the noise, but as soon as he touched the metallic knob, blood rushed to his ears, and he felt like he was being pulled through a tunnel. His eyes involuntarily closed, and another set of images began to play, but this time, it was in his mind.

"Prue, Piper," the woman in his head was in flames, screaming. "Help me, it hurts! Help me! Please!" He forced his eyes opened and was surprised to find himself in his room.

He suddenly felt confused, overwhelmed; whatever he saw felt so real, so intense, he still felt the heat of the flames and heard the woman's screams. And the names, they seemed so familiar to him.

He ran his hand through his long greasy hair, and the moment he did, his eyes snapped shut, as if pulled down by an invisible force, and another set of black and white visions overcame him.

"Don't you understand, Piper? For all we know, Leo could be some kind of freak," he saw a man talking to a woman with long, brown hair. The man was waving sheets of paper in front of the woman's face. _Piper? Again? Who is Leo?_

"Look, Dan," he noticed that the man, _Dan?_, was shaking, his chin was quivering. The woman sighed before continuing, "If Leo is a freak, then so am I." He saw that Piper's eyes were wet and glittering with tears. "I'm a witch, Dan."

The word "witch" began to echo around him, while the scene began to fade- colors and sounds blurred and swam around him. The world was spinning, and he tried to get out, but before he had the chance to pull free, another set of images swam before his eyes.

He heard a voice, masculine, speaking urgently. The deep, shaky voice seemed to be coming from all directions. "This is Dan Gordon, I want to report a suspected witch. Please hurry. It's my neighbor," _Dan Gordon? _Suddenly, the ringing in his ears stopped, and he was able to open his eyes.

Just in time to see a lanky, blonde man in a blue business suit standing by his open door smiling at him.

"Hello, Dan," the man stepped into his room. "It's Pratt again, remember me? Time for you to use your powers again."

…

By the time I got into Buckland's, the tears had dried already and the redness of my eyes had gone. But the sadness and regret at what I had done still lingered, filling me with the urge to blow something up. Taking a deep breath, I counted to ten before grabbing the vial and got out of my car.

"Look what the cat dragged in," a voice said from behind me, sarcastic, shrill, annoying.

_I don't have time for this._

"Abbey." It was Prue's secretary. Turning around, I forced my shoulders to relax and pasted a smile on my dry, chapped lips. I carefully tucked the vial behind a back pocket. "Hey."

"Literally. What happened to your face?" Abbey said in a drawl, as she saw my face. She smirked, flashing me a perfect smile with her perfect teeth, tucking her perfectly styled red hair behind her ear, where a perfectly shaped diamond earring hung brilliantly.

"What happened to yours?" I shot back, matching her condescension with sarcasm.

"Nice one."

"Uh-huh."

"At the risk of sounding interested, what brings you here this late, Piper?"

"I'm here for Prue, Abbey. Remember her? Your boss?" I emphasized the word "boss" and cocked an eyebrow, ready for her banter. _Would Prue mind if I blew this one up?_

"Yes, well," she flinched and pretended to pick off lint from her blazer. "I still don't see why Prue, brilliant as she is, still hangs out with," she paused and eyed me from head to toe, "you."

"Well, we're sisters, Abbey," I squinted, directing all the anger and tension I had in my body into my eyes. And as I stared into hers, I added, "Something that you'll never have and you'll never understand."

Offended, she walked past me without another word. _Thank goodness. _I walked to the elevators, heading for Prue.

_This day just keeps getting better and better._

…

"You're bleeding," I said immediately as soon as Piper opened the door and entered my once immaculate office. Her face was caked in blood in several areas; above her eyebrows, below the chin, and both cheeks had dried cuts that were scabbing.

"I'll be fine," she shrugged dismissively, shaking off her coat and tossing it aside.

"You have to be careful. We don't have a Whitelighter to heal us anymore."

"I know that, Prue. And after what I just did, never bring up the word 'Whitelighter' ever." She glared at me and crossed her hands over her chest. I shook my head and conceded with a nod.

"I'm sorry." I said, taking a deep breath. "About everything."

"Wait, what?" Piper said, suddenly confused, my apology obviously caught her off-guard. Given the way we'd been treating each other, I was certain that she was expecting an argument. But I no longer had it in me to feed this seemingly never-ending feud between the Halliwell sisters.

"You were right. About the Whitelighter comment," I smiled, and put up a hand before she had the chance to interrupt. "And most especially about Phoebe. I was afraid and that fear caused our sister her life. But I need you to understand one thing, Piper. The reason I did all of this," gesturing at my blonde hair and my office, "was you, you and Melinda. I knew that Phoebe was already gone even before Pratt ignited the pyre. She was gone the moment Pratt caught her. If we," I paused, "no, if I had interrupted, he'd have discovered our secret and gone after us too. And I couldn't bear losing another sister. And my precious niece. So I chose to save you, Piper, because I could not bear losing two sisters. I chose you."

Silence. Piper wouldn't even meet my eyes. _Great._ Tension weighed on my shoulders heavily, making me wish that I had just kept my mouth shut.

But after what seemed like years, Piper nodded and finally, after so long, smiled at me. "Thank you, Prue."

In another time, we would have hugged; but we didn't. We didn't do that anymore, not because we didn't want to, but because we can't afford to. Not now, when the whole world was at stake. I smiled back at my younger sister, my eyes showing all the sincerity and love that I had for her, and opened the Book of Shadows.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Dominus Trinus and Wya, I'm so sorry for the delayed upload. Been having difficulty with writer's block. Argh. But I'm okay now, and I'm working on future chapters. Here's more about Abbey and her role in this alternate universe

**Chapter 6**

She felt disgusted as the sound of the two women- the two witches- floated outside the door of Prue Halliwell's office. It felt like listening to forks being scraped down a chalkboard; their high-pitched excited voices literally made her stomach turn.

"That meant a lot, Prue," Piper's voice wafted outwards, "Thank you."

"Whatever has happened and whatever will happen, Piper, we'll always be sisters. Remember that."

Abbey cringed, _What is it with these witches and cheesy family drama cliches?_

Pushing her dismay aside, she pressed closer to the small opening that she managed to create without either sister noticing. For a while, there was nothing, which caused her to worry. But a heartbeat later, she heard the thump of something heavy and the soft rustling of book pages being turned.

"So we now have the ashes and the orbs," Piper's voice again.

"And the pre-requisite herbs and crystals," Prue's voice, followed by the tinkle of glass bottles.

"All we need now is blood from," Piper's voice trailed off, as she flipped through their accursed Book. "Well, look at that, something that we actually used to have, and now don't."

"Which is?" Prue prompted.

"Three witches."

"Oh," Prue whimpered, voice trailing off. It was as if all sound was cut off.

Abbey inched closer as she struggled to hear more. It was imperative that she find out everything that the witches were up to. She had come this close to finding out what their plans were, and the Source had made it abundantly clear that failure was not an option. As she used her weight to push Prue's red door further, the heel of her left boot snagged the lace of her right boot, and she fell forward. Stifling a yelp and mentally cursing herself, she closed her eyes and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Prue and Piper momentarily distracted and wondering what pushed the door open.  
…

"Who's there?" I whirled to the door which suddenly banged open, almost dropping the bottle of powdered wolfsbane from my hand. I jumped in front of the open Book of Shadows, hiding it with my body in case someone was outside. Surprised to see no one, I turned to Piper.

"Hey, don't look at me," she said, "I closed that door when I got in. Like I always do." She continued to pour more of the Lazarus demon's ashes into a black vial as I walked to close my office door.

I examine the area near my door. Instinct honed from months of vanquishing demons made me tense, and as I got to my door, a vile odor made my senses jump on high alert. "What's that smell?" The scent was familiar.

Like I've encountered it before, a noxious scent that left a bad taste on my mouth, like burnt skin.

"No, no, no," I muttered nervously. not now, just when everything is starting to fall into place.

"What?" Piper asked, looking up from her vials and potion ingredients. "What is it, Prue?"

"Smoker Demon," I managed, knowing full well that if one demon got this close, others were soon to follow.

…

I felt my eyes go wild after hearing what Prue just said. "Demon? Did you just say demon? Prue? We can't have demons, we already have Pratt. We can't handle demons right now."

"I know," Prue said, tense. "We better hurry; we might be under attack soon."


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Dominus Trinus and Reina Valeria Nox– thank you so much for following my story and for the kind words and encouragement. HUG! This is Abbey from Season 3, but I tweaked her a little to fit into the alternate universe. Do you like beeyotchy Abbey? Hehe_

Bright balls of flames levitated magically along the length of a stony hallway, casting dancing shadows around her as she was led to the throne room by a wizened old wizard wearing a dark green robe and carrying a long staff. Abbey did not trust wizards and their kind's magic, but she followed nonetheless, face stoic, body rigid, a soldier being led to her general. At the end of the corridor, their path was blocked by currents of dancing purple lightning, guarding the door to the room beyond.

"Step back," the wizard commanded, and muttered a spell in Latin. The purple lightning was sucked into the amethyst set into the wizard's staff. "Enter," he said. As she slid past the wizard, the wizard tapped his wand on the floor thrice, and the purple energy returned to guarding the door, dancing wildly behind her.

Sitting in the center of the room was the Source of All Evil, majestic in his blood red robe, his sword in one hand, an energy ball floating in another. Immediately, she went to her knees and bowed. "My lord."

"Report," barked the Source, his deep voice echoing all around them.

"My lord, your suspicions have been proven to be true. The witches are planning to perform a resurrection. They have gathered the ashes of the Lazarus and white lighter orbs."

"As I told you they would," a voice floated around them, thick and sultry. The hairs on the back of Abbey's neck stood on end, as she recognized who the voice belonged to. "May I be seen?"

The Source waved his sword in an arc, and in the empty space to the Source's left stood the Seer, clad in nothing but a gold necklace, her naked body painted in gold and covered with runes.

"My lord," she bowed, the runes glinting blue with the light from the energy ball in the Source's hand.

"My apologies, my lord, but what is she doing here?" Abbey hissed, scorn making her voice shrill.

"It would be best that you are reminded that it was my powers that have alerted the Source to the plans of the witches." The Seer looked at her with contempt, one brow raised as if to challenge the Smoker Demon.

Abbey scoffed, stifling a laugh. "And it would be best that you are reminded that while you are here, cradling your crystal ball, I was out there risking my life verifying your dubious claims."

"Enough!" A loud rumble shook the cave, and a force bolt separated the Seer and the Smoke Demon. "Seer, you will return to your crystal ball or return forever to your reptilian form. Be gone." The Source gestured and the Seer disappeared in a wisp of smoke. "And you, demon, never presume to think that I care about your petty fights. You are but a slave. You will learn all there is to learn about these witches' plan."

Abbey's face hardened, body stiff, but she nodded in consent. "Your will be done." With that, she turned into her smoke form, and sped off.

…

"She's our only hope, Prue," Piper said, trying her best to make Prue listen to reason. "We need a third witch and she's the only one who can get in and out of the Sanctuary without being followed or seen."

The Sanctuary was founded by a group of witches and whitelighters soon after witch hunts were instigated by Nathaniel Pratt to provide a safe hiding place for people who were either exposed or suspected to be witches. Its location was kept secret, protected by layers upon layers of concealment spells, and was only revealed to a small council formed by the magical community.

"No, Piper," Prue shook her head vehemently. "There must be someone else we can ask. A witch who can turn into wind, or blink, or something."

Piper looked at her, eyebrow cocked. "A witch who can turn into wind, Prue? Really? And a blinking witch. Why don't we just summon a warlock?"

"Now you're just mocking me." Prue began to open the Book of Shadows, trying to think of other ways, look for spells, refusing to give in to Piper's suggestion. "Okay, wait, how about a summoning spell?"

"Can't. We need to have something that belongs to the witch we're planning to summon, remember?"

"Right." Prue continued to browse through the Book of Shadows, looking for more spells. She was almost running out of ideas. "How about a teleportation spell?"

"Teleportation spells are too risky and unpredictable, Prue. What if we accidentally teleport a demon here? Or Pratt?"

Prue rubbed her face with both hands, frustrated. "Fine, you know what? You win," she declared, her voice going dangerously icy. "But let me be clear about one thing. Paige Matthews is not our sister, she's just the daughter of the whitelighter who bedded mom and then abandoned her."


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: WyaRose! Yay thank you for the great review! I'm so glad that you love my twist =) yes I will be explaining why Prue feels animosity towards Paige bit by bit and what role the half-sister will play in my AU =)_

_Reina! Yup they do, but what do they really know about their half-sister? =)_

_Hey lizardmomma! Prue can be an ice queen right? Let's see if she can find it in her to be nice to the youngest Halliwell =)_

Prue sat comfortably and tried to control her breathing, focusing on transferring her consciousness to her astral form. Once she felt her magic peak, she gave her astral form a mental push, feeling her breath go out from under her, and soon found herself floating. It had been almost a decade since she discovered how to astral project, but it still exhilarated her every time she used this power. In the astral plane, Prue felt free, and she often found herself fighting the urge to just fly away, to lead her life away from being a witch using her astral form.

_But I still have responsibilities, _she shook her head and continued to make her way to the Sanctuary. One moment, she was floating, the next her astral form was solidifying, and she soon found herself standing in front of a dilapidated warehouse on an abandoned street at the outskirts of town.

Prue marveled at the intricacy and power of the concealment spells cast over the Sanctuary. All her senses were telling her that the warehouse in front of her, with its peeling paint and broken windows, was truly abandoned. The illusion wasn't just optical- the warehouse smelled of mold and urine, and the only sound that she heard was the wind blowing through its broken windows.

However, Prue knew better. The skin on her arms erupted in gooseflesh, and she felt eyes watching her astral form, studying her. Without warning, a black hole appeared in front of her, sucking her astral form in, and the last thing she remembered was screaming into the vacuum, all sound extinguished as her astral form disappeared.

…

It took a moment for Prue's eyes to adjust to the brightness that surrounded her. Voices came from everywhere, a combination of excitement chatter and hushed murmurs, the exact opposite of what she had just experienced a moment ago. Eyes were on her- witches, humans, and white lighter alike were studying her, until she heard a voice that made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end.

"Prue," the voice called out, strong but warm, cutting through the noisy chatter that welcomed her. "Welcome to the Sanctuary."

Steeling herself, she turned around and fixed an icy glare at the man walking towards her, stopping him in his tracks. "Sam," she greeted through gritted teeth. She felt a twinge of satisfaction seeing the smile on Sam's face falter as she continued to glare at him.

Sam looked as if to take another step forward but decided against it, keeping a safe distance from the Charmed One, and cleared his throat. "What can the Sanctuary do for you? It's not every day we get a visit from a Charmed One." Everyone turned to her, curious to find out the answer to Sam's open question.

"This isn't a social call," Prue answered curtly. In a hushed tone, she pointedly held Sam's eyes and whispered reluctantly, "We need her."

Alarmed, Sam stepped forward, ignoring the fact that Prue backed away. Mirroring the Charmed One's discretion, Sam whispered back. "What do you need her for? She doesn't have a part in all of this! Why involve her now?"

"It's too late to start pretending to be the concerned father now, Sam. You very well know that she became involved the moment you got our mother pregnant." Prue's anger flared. She became suddenly aware that the eyes of every being in the Sanctuary were on her again as her voice rose. "Now, either do your job as the Ward of the Sanctuary, or move aside. I'll find her even if I have to turn this place upside down." She knew that everyone around her was getting anxious and tense. _Better to be feared than let them know how desperate I am._

"No need, Prue," a voice cut through the frightened whispers. "You want me, here I am."

…

Piper was pacing inside Prue's office, watching her sister's body in front of her, limp and motionless. She knew that Prue wasn't in her body, that she was on her way to the Sanctuary, but it still unnerved her to see her sister's body so still that it appeared to her that Prue wasn't even breathing.

_I have to do something, _Piper thought, still pacing, when Prue suddenly snapped awake, body trembling as her astral form jumped inside her physical body. A heartbeat later, a shower of orbs appeared behind Prue, materializing into their Paige Matthews.

Before she had the chance to say or do anything, both Prue and Paige ran towards her, gesturing with their hands. Paige's black hair and milky-white complexion became a blur as she ran and tackled Piper to the ground.

Dimly, as the back of her head hit the hardwood floors, she heard Prue scream as an acrid smell attacked her senses. She was on the floor, with Paige on top of her, watching the world upside down. A mass of black molecules, like a million flies buzzing together, was thrown back, Prue's hand outstretched in a telekinetic swing.

Her ears were ringing, and a throbbing pain began to pound on her head, but Prue's voice rang strong and unmistakable, incredulous and high-pitched. "Abbey?"

…

Although her body was stuck in its smoke form, bound by Piper's time-freeze and a weave of Arachne's Rope, Abbey looked at the two witches and the white lighter defiantly, only her head was transformed back to its human form. She struggled to free herself, but her efforts only caused her unfrozen human head to bob up and down.

"You gotta admit," Piper said, watching the struggling demon. "That's pretty funny."

"It is, isn't it?" Paige, still in her traditional white lighter's robe, laughed behind Prue. Piper watched as an annoyed Prue turned around and glared at their half-sister, until Paige fell quiet again. _That went well, _Piper felt helpless; she was stuck between wanting to give Paige a hug and keeping her distance. She and Prue had just gotten into an uneasy truce, showing concern for their half-sister now will shatter the fragile relationship that they had begun to rebuild. _And besides, we have a demon to take care of. The Hallmark Channel reunion special can wait, _she thought sarcastically.

Prue turned back to the struggling demon. She was leaning on her table, arms crossed in front of her chest, studying her assistant. _Former assistant_, Prue thought.

_Everything happened so fast, _she mused. No sooner had she returned to her physical body, Paige Matthews behind her magical trail, than a thick black smoke appeared behind Piper, speeding toward her like an arrow. Instinctively, she hurled a hand toward it, slamming its speeding molecules with the force of a telekinetic wall. What happened next was a blur; the black smoke materializing into Abbey, Piper hitting her head as she was pushed down, and Abbey using the momentary distraction to turn into smoke again. She still could not believe that her assistant, _former assistant_, she thought again, was a demon.

Frustrated, Abbey let out a scream, snapping Prue out of her thoughts. "Let me go, witches, or face the wrath of the Source!"

"That just saved us the trouble of finding out who sent you," Piper said, looking at Prue. She noticed that her sister's face had turned into an unreadable mask, one that Piper knew Prue used when she wanted to hide her emotions.

"So the entire time you've been my assistant, you were what, spying on me?"

"Well, we weren't exactly exchanging boy stories over cocktails, were we?" Abbey leered, eyes full of scorn and anger. "Let me go, or the Source will send his other lieutenants to kill you, witches."

"I doubt that the Source cares for you that much, Abbey," Piper quipped.

"Why did the Source send you? What did he send you to find?" Prue asked, ignoring Piper's comment.

"Untie me…" Before Abbey had the chance to continue, a circle of purple flames enveloped her in mid-sentence. In the blink of an eye, the bound Smoke Demon was gone.

"What?" Prue jumped to her feet, pushing the table back, and scanned the room, body tense.

"Summoning spell," Paige said timidly from behind then, scanning the room as well. "She's gone, Prue." Again, Prue simply turned around gave Paige an icy stare. Silence filled the room.

"Prue, are you okay?" Piper asked after a while, breaking the tense silence. "I never did like her, but you've worked with her for almost ten years."

Prue shook her head, her gaze still fixed on Paige. "Well, that just goes to show that you can't trust anybody."


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hi Reina! Thank you so much for the wonderful review! I feel the same way. This is what I have in mind whenever I think of what might happen if Prue had lived. And you are correct, Paige is more experienced as a whitelighter here. =)_

_Lizardmomma, it looks like the veins on Prue's forehead might pop soon if she doesn't calm down right? _

"Abbey said something about the Source's lieutenants, Prue" Piper argued. "We need to figure out who these lieutenants are, what their powers are and what they're capable of, so that we can mount a proper defense."

"We have to do the spell first, Piper," Prue hissed, slamming her office door with a telekinetic wave of her hand, and twisted her fingers to lock it. She knew that she wasn't supposed to use her powers too openly, but _to hell with it_, she thought angrily. She opened the Book of Shadows, flipping through its yellowed pages, and turned to face Piper, and pointed a finger at Paige's direction. "The one we called and need her for."

"But, Prue," Piper began, looking at her elder sister and knew that she was fighting a losing battle. "Lieutenants mean army, the Source must be building his demonic forces."

"No, we had already agreed to cast it once she arrived, remember? We have everything we need, so let's cast the damned spell, and bring our sister back." A blinding pain began to build behind her eyes, and suddenly, the painting hanging on Prue's wall fell with a loud crash, its antique wooden frame shattering as it hit the floor. "The sooner we can return to our lives, the better. Or at least what's left of it."

All Piper Halliwell and Paige Matthews could do was watch their eldest sister search furiously through the Halliwell's magical tome in silence, one sister running out of hope, the other holding back tears.

…

"_With these words, we summon thee, Fallen sister of the Power of Three._" Prue, Piper, and Paige began to chant.

They paused, grabbed a handful of ashes from the vanquished Lazarus demon, and sprinkled it on the surface of a spelled mirror.

"_You who were burned into ashes shall rise again. To reform our union and its magic mend."_

Piper uncapped the black vial, releasing the white lighter's orbs, and watched as the white-blue lights floated around them.

"_By white lighter's pure light and soul. We beseech thee to be recreated whole."_

With a black handled athame, they each pricked a finger and drew blood.

"_Blood to blood, we summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me."_

A powerful gust of wind blew from the center of their circle, whipping their hair violently against their faces, and died down as suddenly as it arose. "Nothing. Again," Prue rasped, the strain of chanting for the better part of an hour apparent in her voice. Her hair, as well as Piper's and Paige's, was a tangled mess, and their faces were covered in ashes and soot.

"Prue," Piper began, her face slack. Prue closed her eyes, ignoring Piper's pleas, and began to chant again. Her voice was strong and firm, her conviction and will powering the spell.

Defeated, Piper could do nothing but add her power and voice to the spell, all the while risking a glance at Paige's direction, taking advantage of the fact that Prue had her eyes closed. Paige gave Piper a weak smile, but Piper saw the strain the spell was taking on their young half-sister. Paige's pale complexion had gotten even paler, and her face was slick with sweat; her lips were trembling and her breathing was ragged.

As they neared the end of the spell, Paige's voice faded to a hoarse whisper and she fell to her knees, breaking the circle.

"Paige!" Piper called out, pushing hair out of her face, and knelt beside Paige. Her skin was clammy and cool to the touch, and she was shivering uncontrollably in Piper's arms. "Prue, we have to stop. Now!" She screamed the last word, torn between her elder sister and younger half-sister.

"One… more…time…" Prue managed, gritting her teeth, but the strain was too much, and soon she found herself collapsing to the floor as well, the strain of casting the powerful spell and the hard reality of failure pressing hard around her.

…

The sudden explosion of harsh white fluorescent lights assaulted her eyes and blinded her, making the shape in front of her dark and indistinguishable. She blinked and tried to get the spots to stop dancing in front of her eyes, when the shape began to speak.

The voice was metallic, and familiar, and made her heart beat faster.

"Hello, Phoebe, your sisters have been very naughty."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Dominus, yay you are back! =) im so very glad you enjoyed the three chapters and I love how you call them chappies. I've always thought, well fantasized haha, what the Power of Three would be like without Phoebe too so I hope you like what I've done here! (but im very happy you like the spell, its so fun writing spells) =)_

_Lizardmomma, Reina, and WyaRose Feeing-alone-charmed-always- thank you so much for your kind reviews =) hmmm who could the mystery person be? How is he related to Phoebe and her "naughty sisters?" _

"You did perfectly well," the Seer whispered seductively, the gold runes that covered her body glinted languidly in her flame lit chambers.

Abbey smiled and rubbed her head along the side of the Seer's body. "Why, thank you." She raked her nails down the Seer's bare arms and pressed her head closer and deeper. "And that escape spell was so," she paused, purring in content as the Seer ran her hands down her body, "gentle."

"Only for you," the Seer laughed, her voice throaty and rich. "And you are certain that they believed you?"

"Very. Although the eldest has a one-track mind and would focus her energies on casting the resurrection spell first, she will very soon go after the generals of our," Abbey paused again, and made air quotes as she continued, "lord."

…

Piper handed a steaming mug of tea to Paige and felt her forehead with the back of her hand. "Are you sure you're okay?" Though she was no longer trembling, Piper noticed that Paige's face was still slick and shiny with a fine sheen of sweat.

Paige took a tiny sip of the spelled tea and nodded. "I am, really. And thank you for this," she raised her mug and gave Piper a weak smile. "I've never completely mastered this healing spell."

A small sound came from across the room, which made Piper look at the eldest Halliwell sitting by the windows, and made Paige glance nervously around the room. Prue scoffed and rolled their eyes at them, shaking her head and returning her gaze to the Book of Shadows sprawled open on her lap.

"Excuse me," Piper said and gave Paige's shoulder a little squeeze. She crossed the room to where Prue was sitting and gave her her own steaming mug of tea. She studied her elder sister carefully, and after deducing that Prue was fine other than a head full of disheveled hair, she pulled a chair and sat in front of her, crossing her hands firmly in front of her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"The spell didn't work, Piper," Prue replied, her tone icy. "If you weren't so busy fawning over the white lighter, you might be able to see that fact. We have all the ingredients, I brought her here, despite my misgivings, and nothing!" An empty chair crashed into a far wall, and broke in two.

"Cut her some slack, Prue," Piper said patiently. She played the role of mediating middle sister like second skin, placating her hot-headed eldest sister and defending her youngest. The thought suddenly made her weary, and reminded her of the times she had to play middle sister for Prue and Phoebe. "She isn't adept at spell casting as us. Just give her time. We'll cast the spell again."

"She can't even cast a healing spell," Prue spat harshly and a little too loudly. "I'm telling you, Piper…"

Before Prue had the chance to finish her sentence, her face grew slack, and she felt something pulling at her mind, tiny hands clawing at her and pulling her down. Spots of color danced before her eyes, and the last thing she remembered was Piper standing over her and Paige rushing towards her before everything went black.

…

"Who…?" Phoebe tried to talk, but her throat and mouth were dry, her tongue hung heavy in her mouth. She squinted, trying to focus on the figure standing in front of her.

"Oh, where are my manners," the figure in front of her chuckled. "It's Dr. Curtis Williamson, Phoebe. It's time to get more of that magical blood of yours. But wait, given your powers, I'm sure you already knew that." He chuckled again at his own joke as he took another step towards Phoebe. "Doctor's orders." Another chuckle, another step.

Phoebe tried to move, but found that her hands and legs were bound. She cleared her throat, and tried to speak again. "Doc…tor," she rasped.

"Those ropes? My idea," Dr. Williamson murmured as he knelt in front of Phoebe. "We can't have you levitating and flying around like Harry Houdini, now can we?" He laughed again as he wrapped a cold hand around Phoebe's elbow, looking for a vein and applying pressure.

As Phoebe's eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, she saw that the doctor was holding an empty syringe, its needle poised above the veins in her elbow. She observed that Dr. Williamson appeared normal enough, wearing a white lab coat as he always did back when Piper had contracted the rare Oroya fever; however, Phoebe was surprised that his face had changed. Moss green veins ran along his cheeks, and his lips were a yellow-green color. Phoebe also noticed that his voice had become harder, deeper, almost robotic.

Pulling her eyes away, her vision swam as she forced herself to study her surroundings, looking for clues that could tell her where she was. She turned her head slowly, and found herself in a windowless room surrounded by padded walls that were as white as the harsh lights that bathed the room. A thick silver door was set into the wall in front of her, barred and locked. _I'm trapped_, she thought. Phoebe knew that there was no way out, that she was bound tightly, _and even if I could get out, where would I go? _She thought, sinking deeper and deeper into desperation. An idea suddenly came to her, almost by instinct. _My body can't get out, but that doesn't mean my mind can't_. She immediately closed her eyes, and began to murmur the words of her spell, ignoring Dr. Williamson as he worked his thumb around her elbow.

"Now, Ms. Halliwell," Dr. Williamson suddenly said in his metallic voice, interrupting her chant. "This will only hurt a little." He looked at Phoebe, a smile tugging at his lips. "Okay, no wait, I lied," he said as he jammed the needle into Phoebe's vein, laughing as he drew blood.

Phoebe took a sharp intake of breath as the needle punctured her skin, and spots of color exploded in her mind's eye again. But she ignored the pain, and hurriedly continued to whisper the words of her spell, her lips trembling as she grew light-headed and dizzy, both from the blood loss and spell-casting. As the last two words of the spell left her lips, she felt darkness eating away at her, and before finally giving in, she muttered _Thank you, Prue_ as white lights exploded from her body and rose towards the ceiling.


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Reina, LizardMomma, and Feeling-alone, thank you so much for staying tuned. Here is a new chapter for you, and one which I hope would answer your question, Feeling-alone **_

"Prue," a voice called out to her, floating close by. "Prue, wake up, Prue." She felt something damp brushing across her forehead, droplets of water running down the sides of her face. She felt her consciousness slowly returning, the way she felt whenever her astral body returned to her physical one.

"Piper?"Prue replied groggily, opening her eyes slowly. She felt weak, her eyelids heavy. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Piper said, folding the damp washcloth, and wiped Prue's forehead gingerly again. "You got us both worried, Prue," she gestured toward Paige, "Maybe we should give the spell-casting a rest. Recharge our magic first before we try casting again."

"No," Prue said, her resolution and conviction came rushing back, forcing the spots that danced before her eyes away as she made herself get up. She braced herself as the room swam, and made her way to the Book of Shadows. "We can't let up now, Piper. We can't, not when we're so close. There must be something we missed." She opened the huge tome and began looking for other spells, answers and options that they had either missed or lacked. _Please, please, there must be something here._ She felt her hope drop as the Book of Shadows yielded nothing, its pages providing no answer that could help them. "Nothing! I don't understand it, it's as if the Book has deserted us, deserted Phoebe!" Frustrated, Prue slammed the tome shut and walked back to her chair, rubbing her temples.

"We lost our sister, Prue, how can we ever understand that? We've tried every possibility, every spell we know to bring her back," Piper said.

"No," Prue cut her, interrupting her with a glare. "Not every possible way. There are more spells in Magic School, grimoires and magical texts that can help us, augment our spells."

"I thought Magic School was locked up by the Elders," Paige piped in shyly.

"You're right, it was," Piper agreed, giving Paige an encouraging smile. She then turned to Prue, and said, "How can we possibly get into Magic School, Prue? Its location changes, and even if we can scry for its location, which I seriously doubt, how can we get through the protection wards?"

"Simple," said Prue, "you're not me." She closed her eyes and, with strained effort, pushed her astral self out of her physical body. She felt the familiar whoosh as her astral body floated through the astral plane, but felt her concentration fizzle as she heard Piper and Paige both give a startled squeak.

Alert, she opened her eyes, expecting Abbey to be back, but was shocked when she saw her feet dangling six feet up in the air.

…

"Argh," the Seer clutched her head in pain, and stumbled to her knees, screaming. She felt waves of psychic energy pounding her, assaulting her with visions. Visions of four witches, the Charmed Ones, and a shape shrouded by shadows. Faintly, she heard the Source call out to her, and gritting her teeth, she pushed her way up. "It is a vision of the Charmed Ones," she said, immediately seizing the opportunity to further her plans. "I see them, attacking you, and winning."

A hush fell over the cave, the only sound the crackling of the flames from the torches floating along the walls. All eyes were fixed on the Source- the old wizard with the amethyst set in his staff, the Seer, and Abbey. Finally, the Source said, voice deep and ominous. "Prepare my generals."

…

"Prue," Piper said as she held on to Prue's left leg and slowly pulled her back to the ground. "Seriously? We all know you're a super-witch, but telekinetically lifting yourself off the ground is way too much to prove your point."

"I didn't telekinetically lift myself, Piper," Prue replied, her voice as shaky as her whole body as she held on to Piper, and allowed Paige to hoist her right leg down. As her feet touched the ground, she explained, "I was trying to use my power and push my astral form out to Magic School."

"Either that's an advancement of your astral projection power or you're turning into some sort of dragon lady," Piper commented, eyeing her elder sister warily. "Question, which one is it?"

"It must be a power advancement," Prue mused, face still pale. "I mean, I can move things with my mind, move my astral self out of my body, it makes sense that eventually I'll be able to move my body, too." She took a deep breath and tried to make her way to the Book of Shadows for answers.

"Just another day in the lives of Halliwell women. Other women collect shoes, we collect powers," she mumbled, turning to Paige.

"Ah," Paige smiled awkwardly.

On shaky legs, Prue finally made her way to her desk and to the old Halliwell tome, determined to find out what is happening to her powers. _There are too many things going on right now, I can't have my powers going haywire now_, she thought uneasily. However, her determination faltered when her fingertips brushed the green leather cover of the Book of Shadows, and a flash of bright light assaulted her mind's eye. Gasping, she turned to face Piper and Paige. "Great, I think I just had a premonition."


End file.
